Friday, July 27, 2007

Derek Roy is Rich, Biatch!

by Jes

It's usually in a team's best interests to avoid salary arbitration. Not only do the players seem to win a majority of the cases, but the bitterness tends to linger with the player as they listen to their employer belittle and rip apart their game.

It's a hefty deal for a third-line centre coming off a career season in which he finished fifth on the Sabres with 63 points (21-42) in 75 games. He was also a plus-37, fifth-best among all NHL skaters.

The deal will pay him $4 million on average per season, a significant raise for Roy, who made $627,000 last year.

"Derek is a solid young player who will only continue to improve,'' general manager Darcy Regier said in a statement. ''He will play an increased role for our club, and we look forward to having such a quality player in our organization for many years to come."

I'm quite surprised on a couple of levels.

The length and width of the contract surprised me. I had never pictured Derek Roy as a $4mil/season player, nor did I expect the Sabres to tie themselves down so much in the wake of having to shell out for Vanek. Then, I realized that the Sabres must be tired of losing players, and want to lock down some of their young guns as long as possible

I had also never realized that Derek Roy was so effective last season. I had always known him a great 2-way 'role-player' type ever since his junior days, but he was so much more than that for the Sabres, and still has room to grow as a player. Sure, he'll have far less talent to work with this season, but Roy has a pretty good track record during his pro career.

Given all that has happened in the marketplace and to the Sabres, I think this is a deal that is good for them. The dollar amount is a tad high, but they might easily come out ahead if Roy continues to play as well as he did last season. They also ensure that they won't lose the guy any time in the near future, which is probably a large part in why they were willing to agree to $4mil/season.

hahaha $24mil wow they really wanted to avoid arbitration, roy can hold is own, don't get me wrong but with drury and briere gone his numbers will drop even though with this contract, they'll need to improve

1) Amazing who seems to be getting all the HUGE(undeserved) raises these days. A few years ago it was the over the hill crowd who seemed to cash in on UFA status.2) Now its guys finishing their entry level contract at 23-24. To either a RFA offer, arbitration, or to prevent a potential RFA offer GM's are giving away HUGE sums to guys who have yet to prove themselves.